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KoptenOwl rated Feline Crime Files: Operation Vulta

KoptenOwl rated a game 247 days ago
A downloadable game for Windows.

I was very excited to see a stand-alone project from Fushiyu, after thoroughly enjoying their other mystery projects based upon Spongebob and The Amazing Digital Circus. I have never been disappointed.

Fans of Ace Attorney will love this game, which pulls a bit more from the Investigations series in its gameplay (investigations and confrontations occur at the crime scene as opposed to the courtroom). I also really like the final confrontation, which seems to pull from Danganronpa in the perp moving around on screen and slowly having bits of their costuming stripped away.

I enjoyed the artstyle, expressive sprites, and character designs, and even the backgrounds have a nice drawn feel to them. The story felt satisfying in nabbing the perp and finding justice, and I was amazed by the complex worldbuilding involved, with the creation of almost two dozen countries with their own geopolitical situations going on. The story so far puts a lot of emphasis on immigration, culture clashes, and international law, so I'm curious to see how this shapes out in future cases.

There were a few things, while not disqualifying, that kept this game from being a perfect recommendation. 

  • The receptionist character's Scottish accent is SUUUUPER thick in how it's written. Had I not been researching for a character of my own, I would have been utterly perplexed about how to parse it. Given that none of the characters responded to the accent, it's my opinion that the intelligibility of it is accidental; I'd advise that the spellings be altered by like 20% closer to standard English.
  • The puzzle in the actor room is not very straightforward, and I really like escape rooms and escape room games like 999. I'd advise an edit on this, as I wouldn't have been able to solve this except for the comment on the game's page
  • The execution of the crime is a little rushed in how it's explained, and I was usually getting pulled along by the explanation rather than being slightly ahead of it, as is usually recommended in mysteries
  • The splitting of notes vs evidence seems a bit arbitrary, and even inconsistent at times. 
  • A certain piece of evidence is hidden, and the reasoning behind why is foggy, if it was ever presented
  • The controls are a bit unusual, both on keyboard and controller, and it is very easy to double-press and accidentally present evidence.

Aside from these things, I hope to see more cases in this series soon! Definitely try it if you enjoy mysteries in the vein of Ace Attorney or Danganronpa!